Stuck with me
by flyingtothelesbianrainbow
Summary: When a zombie attack threatens the lives of a certain blonde & brunette, they lock themselves inside a department store for protection. They don't seem to like each other at first, but the increasing danger brings them closer together as they try to keep themselves and others safe.
1. Chapter 1

'So we were standing there on the deck, inhaling the smell of the sea when my brother Liam….'

Emma was sitting across from Hook in a fancy restaurant they chose to have dinner at for their one month anniversary. He had been telling her stories all night. Most of them about the adventures he and his brothers had together, some of them about the ships they had been on.

She pretended to listen, nodding her head every now and then when it seemed appropriate and smiling at him occasionally. The topic didn't really interest Emma. Actually, she wasn't sure if she was still interested in Hook at all.

It was nice as first, because she finally felt like someone wanted her, which was kind of a big deal to Emma. As a child, she had been in a lot of foster homes and in the end they always got rid of her. Sometimes because they finally got children of their own, sometimes because they thought she was too difficult to handle.

It had bothered her quite a lot when she was younger, but it had also made her strong. It had thought her how to take care of herself. Despite that, it still influenced her sometimes. When she was having a bad day, sometimes the fear of not being wanted came back. That's why, when Hook told her he was in love with her, she just couldn't say no to him.

However, after the chase, Hook didn't seem to care about her very much anymore. It was like she was his prize instead of his girlfriend. So here she was, playing with the food that was on her plate, pretending to be having a good time while actually contemplating their relationship, when suddenly she heard the loud sound of an alarm.

At first, she thought she might have been dreaming, that she dozed off because the conversation wasn't interesting enough to keep her awake. After pinching herself though, she realized she wasn't dreaming and she looked around her to see what was going on.

Most people just looked really confused, and Emma was too. She stood up and looked out of the window, if this was the air-raid alarm, the danger was probably on the outside.

Emma didn't see much at first, until a man ran past their window, his hands were up in the air and he was screaming. She couldn't really make out what he was saying, but apparently some people outside did, because panic followed.

She observed them for a moment, still trying to find out what was going on. It was weird to see how all people reacted to danger differently. Some stayed calm, waiting to see if there was actually any danger before doing something, while others just started running in random directions.

Emma wasn't really one to run from danger. Running away from her problems or from people maybe, but she had been in quite a lot threatening situations because of her job as a bail bonds person, so she could handle a little bit of danger, having learned that it was best to stay calm.

Because people started running, some got closer to the restaurant and that made it possible for Emma to actually understand what some of them where yelling. 'Did he just say zombies?'

She turned around to face Hook, looking for confirmation. 'I think he did, love'. Hook tried his best to look tough, like he was not afraid of anything, but Emma could see the fear in his eyes. She was good at reading people. When she was little, she used to call that her superpower. She could always see the truth, always knew when people were lying to her.

Emma and Hook weren't the only one hearing the screams. The people that were with them at the restaurant could hear it too. Of course, most of them didn't stay calm.

Some people ran out to see what was happening for themselves and some were hiding under their table, thinking that they would be safe there from whatever danger was outside.

Emma thought about hiding for a while too, but then decided against that. She wanted to go outside to see what was going on and see if she could offer some help. It couldn't really be zombies anyways right? Those only existed in movies. Maybe it was just a prank. Yeah, it had to be a prank.

Of course, when she was walking towards the door, Hook tried to stop her. 'We have to stay inside Emma, I can keep you safe in here' he said, but Emma wanted to go outside as soon as possible, and she wasn't going to let Hook stop her.

'I can keep myself safe. You can either join me or stay here, that's totally your choice, but I'm going'. So Emma made her way outside, and Hook followed her. He always followed her.

Taking a few seconds to look around, she didn't really see anything dangerous going on, didn't saw zombies, only people, running around aimlessly.

She tried to ask some people what was going on, but nobody had time to answer. They were all trying to run as far away as possible.

Then she saw a woman standing still in the middle of the road. She seemed to be calling out a name. She decided to ask the woman if she could help with something and find out if she knew what was going on.

Getting closer, she could hear that the name the woman was shouting was David. 'Do you know what is going on? Are you trying to find someone?' she asked.

'I don't know.. we heard the alarm and everyone just started panicking. I lost my husband in the chaos while we were trying to get out of a shop, I can't see him anymore!'

Looking around, Emma knew it would be pretty damn difficult to find someone in this chaos indeed. There were too many people running around to get a good look at their faces.

She was thinking about the best strategy to find the man when some screams interrupted her thought process. The screams quickly came closer. She tried to focus but then she noticed that these people weren't just running around. They kept looking behind them, they were being followed.

Because it was dark, it was hard to see what exactly they were running for, but then she noticed something. The people that were in the back weren't really running, they were walking quite slowly actually, making weird gestures and noises.

She tried to remember the zombie movies she had seen, all the books she had read about them when she was a kid. This couldn't be real. She was trying really hard to convince herself that zombies don't exist when she saw it.

An old man couldn't quite keep up with the others and fell behind. The creatures caught up to him fairly quick, making him their victim.

As they devoured him, Emma closed her eyes. However, that didn't stop her from hearing his screams. When the screaming finally stopped she opened her eyes again. The man was lying on the ground, he wasn't moving anymore. They killed him.

It made her realise that this couldn't have been a prank. This was real. She didn't have time to process this at all, wanting to get away from the creatures as quickly as possible.

She looked at the dark haired woman. 'Your husband has probably found shelter somewhere. We should do the same. When everything here goes back to normal we will search for him, I promise'

The woman seemed a bit reluctant at first but then nodded her head. 'Okay. Let's find a safe place to wait this out'

Looking around, Emma scanned the streets quickly, searching for a place to hide from the creatures. Then she saw it, across the street a man was guiding people into the department store.

She didn't need long to decide that that was where they needed to go. The store seemed to have quite thick walls, not too many windows and there would be supplies there to last them quite a while, which could come in handy, since there was no telling how long this would last.

She turned to face Hook and the woman again. 'That way, we'll be safe there!' She said, while the creatures were getting closer. She waited until the two started running towards the department store and followed them quickly.

When they were in the store, Emma had a few seconds to catch her breath. 'I'm going outside again to get as many people as possible here before they get too close!' She said, and to Hook 'Keep an eye on her for me please'.

He nodded and Emma made her way trough the little crowd that had already formed in the store. When she was outside she started telling people about the department store. 'It's not safe to stay outside, a bunch of people are seeking shelter right there, you should go there too', she said while pointing her finger in the right direction.

Doing this, she got a few people inside. Then she saw a couple with a small child. She walked towards them and told them the same thing. The man, who seemed a lot older than the woman, agreed quickly, because he wanted to keep his little boy safe.

After making sure the couple got inside safely, she looked around, scanning the crows for more people to help.

She was just pointing two girls in the direction of the department store when she saw a woman lying on the ground. She was unconscious. Another woman and a man were trying to wake her up. 'What happened?' Emma asked, running towards them.

'She fell, she's not waking up!' the woman replied, while the man kept trying. 'Okay, lift her up carefully and get her to the department store. It's safe there for now and there are beds, lay her down on one of them. I'll come check on you later'. The man didn't hear seem to hear her, he was panicking too much. That's why the woman quickly took charge and carried the other woman to the department store. 'Thanks!'

She was just about to go back when she saw a woman trip over something. She tried to get up but her ankle seemed to make that impossible. Emma raced towards the woman and grabbed her hand so she could get up. 'I don't need your help, I can do it myself' the woman said, yanking her arm away.

'Come on, now is not the time to argue, let me help you'. The woman let out a sigh, but still let Emma help. 'I would have gotten up myself eventually'

'You could have just said thank you?' Emma said, getting a little bit angry. She didn't have time to deal with this now. Then the woman looked up for the first time, making eye contact with Emma.

That's when Emma noticed how beautiful this woman actually was. Despite tripping, she still looked very elegant. Emma forced herself to stop thinking about that. To stop thinking about those enticing plump lips and the hot scar just above it, because she could hear the creatures coming closer and she needed to get them to safety.

'Want to shelter in the department store?' She quickly asked the woman, who nodded her head as an answer. Emma tried to get her there as fast as she could. Just when she thought she could use some help, a blond man appeared in front of them, asking if he could lend a hand. Emma let him, not even bothering to ask the woman if it was okay, because she didn't need any more snarky comments from her right now.

They got to the department store much quicker this way. While she helped the woman sit down on the ground, she saw the man that had helped her walk up to the other dark haired woman she met earlier. 'Mary Margaret?' He said. 'David!' She answered happily. 'You found me'.

'I will always find you'. Emma couldn't help but smile at that. She really hoped she could find love like that one day.

 **Notes: Thank you all so much for going on this journey with me. I will try to upload a new chapter once or twice a week. Also I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts on this story, so if you want to leave a comment that would be great!**


	2. Chapter 2

Regina Mills was sitting in a café where she was doing some paperwork while drinking a cup of coffee. She wasn't really someone who went to cafes often, but her friend Kathryn had invited. They hadn't seen each other in quite a long time, because they were both very busy with their jobs and the last few years, Kathryn had chosen to spent most of her free time with her husband.

She wasn't sure if she wanted to go at first, since she wasn't really good at the whole friendship thing, but Kathryn's had just found out that her husband had been cheating on her for some time now. They were working on getting divorced right now, so Regina decided this wasn't really a good time to say no to her.

Kathryn was her best friend, well.. Her only friend actually, now that she thought about it, and she had been there for her too when things were bad. It was only fair for Regina to be there for her now too.

The evening actually turned out to be pretty nice. They decided that the best way for Kathryn to get over her heartbreak was a rebound. Finding someone suitable couldn't be that hard, could it? And maybe they could find someone for Regina too, since they were looking anyway.

'What about that one?' Kathryn pointed to a guy sitting at the end of the bar. Regina squinted her eyes, trying to get a good look at him. 'Too young', she said eventually.

'If you keep being so picky you'll never find a man to give you your happy ending' Kathryn said. 'Don't you want to find your prince charming?'

'My happy ending isn't a man' Regina replied, while rolling her eyes at Kathryn.

'Okay well, I need someone to make me forget about my ex, so please don't be so hard on everyone and help find the right person for the job, because you're not really being a good wingwoman right now'

'Okay, fine' she said. Just as she said that she saw a pretty handsome man walk into the café. 'How about that one', she said while pointing at him. Kathryn smiled at her. 'Yes, finally, that's what I'm talking about!'

Kathryn had approached the man and asked him if he wanted to join them for a drink or two. Everything went very well so they had left the café together about half an hour ago.

Regina had decided she would finish this paperwork before heading back home so that she could relax the rest of her evening. Maybe she could even read a book, she hadn't done that in quite a while due to her crazy schedule.

When she had finished her cup of coffee, her paperwork wasn't done yet, so she decided to order an apple cider, because if she had any more coffee she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

A few minutes later she was trying the apple cider that had been delivered to her table. It wasn't quite as good as the cider she made herself, which made her kind of proud, but it was good nonetheless.

Regina had started making apple cider when she was still a little girl. The house she grew up in had quite a few apple tries in the front yard, and apple picking was something she had enjoyed very much. When she was old enough, her father had learned her to make cider, so she could sell that in front of their house on warm days. Her mother had been very proud of her then for making money on her own for the first time.

After finishing both her paperwork and her apple cider, she went outside to look for a cab, since she didn't take her car with her in case she needed some alcohol. She didn't regret not taking it though, because she wanted to get a little bit of fresh air after being in the café for quite a long time.

Regina had always loved to be outside. When she was younger she used to go horse riding quite a lot. Because she was from a wealthy family, their property was big and she even had her own horse. She had named it Rocinante. She always spent her free time riding with him and had loved every second of it.

Thinking about it, she actually kind of missed it, so she decided to visit the local stables if the next time her schedule allowed her to.

Taking a bus wasn't really an option either. She had nothing against public transport, okay, maybe she did a little. Especially in the evening, when there was a big chance of being catcalled by drunk teenage boys, or even men, so a cab was her best option right now. She decided to walk to the bus station, because the most trustworthy cabs left from there.

After walking for a few minutes, she had to make a left turn, then she saw something. There was a group of people coming towards her. They were not walking normally and they didn't look healthy at all. Their skin was very white and seemed to be damaged a lot. Some also looked a bit bloody.

Regina could only stand there, looking at them. With every step they took towards her, the growling sounds they made also got louder and louder.

She still didn't really believe what she saw though. She hadn't been able to get a lot of sleep the last couple of days. Maybe she was hallucinating? Because she was pretty sure there were zombies coming towards her and she was also pretty sure these only existed in movies.

She closed her eyes for a second, hoping not to see them anymore when she opened them again. But when she did, the zombies were still there, so she now had to decide if she wanted to fight them or run from them.

Fighting them seemed the most difficult option. Regina didn't have time to count them all but she could see that there were quite a few of them and she also wasn't sure on how to defeat them, so she chose to run.

Between closing her eyes and thinking about what to do, she hadn't noticed that one of the zombies had gotten really close to her, so when she turned around to start running, it grabbed her arm.

Regina tried to get away. Her legs were still free, so she used them to kick the zombie in between the legs. She knew that was effective on men, but the zombie barely even noticed it. When she saw his head coming towards her, she used her free hand to puch him hard, in the face this time.

He seemed only slightly affected by that. But it was enough to get his head away from her and for him to loosen his grip on her arm, which gave her the opportunity to free herself and get away.

As soon as she was free, she started to run as fast as she could. After running for a few seconds, she looked back, noticing that the creatures weren't as fast as her. They were moving quite slowly actually.

When she looked back a second time to see if she lost them, she didn't see the crack in the sidewalk, so she twisted her ankle and fell on the ground.

She tried to get up quickly, afraid that the zombies would catch up to her, but her ankle made that impossible. She was just trying again when she felt someone grab her hand.

For a second, she thought it might be another zombie, until she quickly looked and noticed it was just a woman.

Still shaken, she couldn't refrain herself from saying 'I don't need your help, I can do it myself'. Because Regina didn't like people touching her, especially when they were complete strangers and she had just been attacked by a zombie. So she yanked her arm away and tried to get up on her own once again.

'Come on, now is not the time to argue, let me help you'. The woman said. Regina let out a sigh, but decided to let her help anyway, since letting this woman help her was still better than getting eaten by a zombie. She shivered at the thought of that.

'I would have gotten up myself eventually' Regina said, because she still had her pride. 'You could have just said thank you?' the woman answered. She could see that the woman was getting a little irritated by her.

Remembering the conversation she had whith Kathryn today about being nice to people, she kind of regretted making these snarky comments, so she looked up, planning to thank the woman, but she completely lost her words when she looked the woman in the eyes, because beautiful green eyes were looking back at her.

She almost forgot about the zombies, that were getting quite close now, until the woman asked her if she wanted to go to the department store for shelter. Regina nodded, not having a better idea.

With the help of the woman, she tried to get there as quickly as possible, which proved to be kind of hard since she couldn't use one of her legs. She looked behind her. The zombies weren't much slower as them now.

Then a blond man appeared in front of them, asking if he could lend a hand. The woman accepted his help, and Regina didn't protest this time. She wanted to get to safety before the zombies had time to catch up to them.

When they were finally inside, the woman helped her sit down, and then she disappeared. Regina realised she hadn't even asked her name yet, or thanked her, for that matter. So she made a mental note to go look for her later, first she had to let her ankle rest for a while.

She used this time to look around for a while, to see who else were in the department store with her. The first thing she noticed where the two people that were hugging each other in the front of the store. The woman had short black her, the man was blond. They both looked very relieved to see each other again.

Regina had been sitting there for a few minutes, just looking at people, when a little boy approached her.

'Do you have hurt?' He asked, pointing at her elbow. She looked at it, noticing the scratches. She hadn't seen them before, so it probably happened when she fell.

'I had hurt too yesterday because I falled but mommy kissed it and then it was all better!' He continued excitedly, pointing at his knee. Regina saw there was indeed a band aid there. 'Do you want a kiss?' He asked.

She didn't really know what to say to the boy, didn't even know where this boy came from, when a woman with a smilar hair color as him came towards her.

'Was he bothering you?' She asked Regina. 'No, not at all' she replied, giving the woman a warm smile. She didn't want to get the little man in trouble. 'He was really sweet actually'

'Yeah, he's a really sweet boy. I'm Belle, this is my son Henry' The woman gave her a hand. 'I'm Regina'. Then she directed her attention towards the boy again, 'Nice to meet you henry!'

 **Notes: Thank you for reading this! I really appreciate it! I would love to hear your thoughts on this story, so if you want to leave a comment that would be awesome.**

 **Oh, I also forgot to mention that there is no curse in this au!**


	3. Chapter 3

After helping Regina sit down, Emma went to find the three people she had helped on the street earlier. One of them had been unconscious and Emma wanted to see if she was awake again. She had told the people that were with her to get her on one of the beds, so she walked to the part of the store containing all the furniture.

When she got there she was just in time to see the woman on the bed wake up. The dark haired man and woman that were with her however, were too busy arguing about whose fault it was that she fell in the first place to see it.

Emma walked over to them. 'Guys, maybe this is not the right time to do this? What's her name?' she asked, pointing towards the woman lying on the bed. 'Her name is Aurora' the other woman answered. 'I'm Mulan and this is Philip'.

'Okay, I'm Emma. Can one of you get her some water? I saw bathroom signs somewhere around here so you'll be able to find it there'. Mulan nodded and left immediately.

Emma walked up to the bed and sat down on it next to the woman that was lying there. 'Hey, Aurora. I'm Emma. How are you feeling?' she asked her. 'I feel a little bit weird, but much better than before I fell, what happened?' Aurora replied. 'I think you passed out, it's probably nothing a little bit of rest won't fix. Mulan's getting you some water right now'. The woman smiled upon hearing that.

After Mulan arrived and gave Aurora something to drink, Emma left again, trusting her to look after Aurora. When she was back in the main hall of the store, she saw that people had begun barricading doors and windows to make sure the zombies couldn't come in.

She then spotted the short haired woman she tried to help earlier today giving out orders with her husband, who she was reunited with not too long ago, so she walked towards them. 'Got anything to do for me?'

'Of course! I sent someone to the food section of the store to make a plan on how to make all of it last as long as possible. Maybe you can go help her? It's right there. Her name is Ruby and she has long dark hair with a red streak in it, so she shouldn't be too hard to find'.

'Okay. Have you thought about what to do at night yet? Should we all take shifts in guarding the place?' The woman smiled. 'Great thinking! I'll get on that right away. Would you be able to do tonight's shift? I'll find some people to help you of course'.

Emma nodded in agreement, wondering how the woman could be so cheerful considering the situation that they were in. A lot of the people around her seemed to be scared more than anything. Not wasting any time, Emma went to the food section of the store to help Ruby.

She found her immediately and together they started writing everything down in a notebook Ruby had grabbed from the school supply section. Luckily, there was enough food that they didn't need cooking for it to be eatable, since they didn't have kitchens that actually worked here. They only had a microwave to work with in an office somewhere.

Meanwhile, Regina was still talking to Belle. 'Would you mind watching Henry for a bit?' she asked Regina. 'I want to see what I can do to help, but I don't want anything to happen to Henry and you two seemed to be getting along so I thought maybe you'd want to do that for me?'

Regina was a little bit surprised that this woman trusted her with her child, because they didn't even know each other, but she agreed anyway. 'Yes, no problem'

'Henry, you're going to stay with Regina for a little while okay?' Belle said to henry, who nodded excitedly, happy to spend more time with his new friend.

A few minutes later, Regina and Henry were talking about their favorite books. 'I like books with lots of pictures because mommy reads the words and I can watch the pictures!' Regina laughed at that.

'And do you like fairytales? They're my favorite' she asked the little boy. 'Duh! I'm gonna be a prince when I'm older!

'Well I think you'll make a very good prince, Henry' Regina smiled at him. Then she saw a familiar blonde walking by.

Emma had just finished inventorying the food with Ruby. There was probably enough to last them a good two weeks, if they didn't eat too much every day. They were very lucky the department store had a large food section and they were with about 40 people, which wasn't too much.

Regina looked at Emma, debating on whether she should go up to her and thank her appropriately, since she hadn't done that yet. She then decided that thanking her was indeed the most civilized thing to do. 'Hey Henry, I have to go talk to that lady over there, want to go with me?' She asked Henry, who agreed happily. Regina got up carefully and walked over to Emma.

She walked with a little bit of a limp, since she had hurt her ankle not too long ago, so she hoped she didn't look too foolish. 'Hey' she said, while she was standing behind the blonde. She had no idea how to address her since she hadn't asked her name. The blonde turned around. 'Hey'.

'I'm Regina, you helped me get here earlier?' She tried.

'Yeah, I remember' Emma answered. She remembered quite clearly actually. She remembered that the woman was kind of grumpy to her, which she didn't really appreciate. But she also remembered her beauty, so she gave her a faint smile.

'Well.. I wanted to thank you for doing that. I probably wasn't too easy to deal with at that moment and you still helped me, so thank you'

Now Emma couldn't hold back a smile. 'Yeah, you were a pain in the ass, but you're welcome' Regina pretended to be offended at that, but then smiled back at her.

'So who's your little friend?' Emma asked Regina. 'I'm Henry!' he said excitedly. 'His mom asked me to watch him for a while' Regina explained.

'Hey Henry! I'm Emma' She shook his little hand, then she looked at Regina again. 'I have to go, talk to you later?' she asked the dark haired woman. 'That's okay. Yes, I'm not planning to leave anytime soon, so you're pretty much stuck with me now'

Regina winked at her and then returned to her spot with Henry, leaving a pretty confused Emma behind. Was this woman flirting with her?

When night came, they decided to use the beds and couches in the department store to sleep on. With 5 people having this shift to guard the store, there had to be just enough space for everyone.

3 people were chosen to guard the different sections of the store, while Emma and David guarded the main hall. Emma knew David was Mary Margaret's husband, but she hadn't spoken to him yet, so she introduced herself to him.

Emma was quite glad to have this night shift. She had spent her evening with Hook, so now she really needed some space again. He had followed her around everywhere, not really making himself useful at all. He was in the way more than anything.

She had talked to David, who actually proved to be good company, for quite a while when he decided to make a quick round to check up on the others that were guarding the place to see if anything had happened, leaving Emma by herself for a while.

She wasn't alone for long though, because on the other side of the store, Regina was having a nightmare. In it she was walking through dark streets with zombies everywhere, who were trying to grab her. One of them succeeded and then she woke up.

She blinked a few times, realizing where she was and that it was just a bad dream, for now at least. When she was breathing normally again, she decided to get up for a while, since she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep again without the nightmare continuing.

She made her way through a few rooms when she saw Emma sitting in the front hall. Still not being able to walk properly, it took her a while to reach her. When she finally did, she sat down next to her.

'What are you doing up?' Emma asked when she noticed the brunette sitting next to her. 'I couldn't sleep', Regina answered, not wanting to tell her about the nightmare, not wanting Emma to think she was weak, since she wasn't.

'Yeah, I get that. I'm glad I got to keep guard tonight, because I'm not sure I would be able to sleep either'. She gave Regina a smile. They both didn't really know what to say after that, so a comfortable silence followed.

Emma was just about to convince Regina to get a few more hours of sleep when they heard a loud thud. Regina flinched, afraid her nightmare would become reality. Emma saw it and put her hand on Regina's. 'Don't worry, they won't be able to get to us here' she said, trying to make the brunette feel safe.

Regina closed her eyes for a while, relaxing into Emma's touch. Then she nodded.

A few minutes later, David came back. 'I need to take a walk too, make sure I don't fall asleep on you' she told David. she said to him. She also wanted to try to get Regina back to bed, since it was better for everyone if they were all fresh and alert in the morning.

Emma stood up and held out her hand to Regina to help her up.

They had walked for a while, not saying much, when they arrived at the spot where all the beds were. 'Try to get some more sleep' she told Regina. 'And thank you for keeping me company for a while' she smiled.

'You're welcome' Emma was just about to leave when Regina planted a quick kiss on her cheek. 'Goodnight Emma'.

 **Notes: Thank you for reading! I would really appreciate some comments. I'm sorry this chapter is a little bit shorter, but school is starting again tomorrow and I needed to prepare. I'm also going camping with my new class for a week, so I won't be able to update but I'll be writing at night!**

 **Oh, and lastly I wanted to ask you if you guys want me to continue this story. After 3 chapters you now kind of know what my writing style is, and I'm kind of unsure about it since writing in English is quite hard for me. So tell me if you want me to continue or if you think I should stop because the writing is putting you off too much in your comments!**


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